Stop mechanism for rotary containers



Oct. 24, 1950 A. TRAUBE 2,527,041

STOP MECHANISM FOR ROTARY CONTAINERS Filed June 22, 1945 s sheets-sheet 1 Fly 1 IN VEN TOR. A 47/5/7577; 7 2 54/17;

AWZW/ZQ (LN Oct. 24, 1950 A. TRAUBE STOP MECHANISM FOR ROTARY CONTAINERS 1 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 22, 1945 INVENTOR.

Abra/7507 77 52/17 Oct. 24, 1950 A. TRAUBE 2,527,041

STOP MECHANISM FOR ROTARY CONTAINERS Filed June 22, 1945 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 3/ 54 47 C ll-I lll l' I 48 1 5 i 59 O 3 Ava/02y i Patented Oct. 24,

UNITED STATES PATENT o-FFici:

2,521,041 H s'ror MEo'nANIsM tee Rear-Am CONTAINERS v n Abraham l raube, Brooklyn, Anplicat'i'onjune' 22; 1945, serial 600,901

10 Claims.

-This invention relates'tostop mechanism for rotary eontaine'rs; and more particularly to'mechanism for the stopping andp ositio'ning oi the rotary hollow drum or container of a Washing o r dry-cleaning machine of the type in which the drum or container is mounted to rotate about a horizontal axis within an outer shell or casing. In such a machine, the door in the drum or container must be brought intoregisten with the door opening in the outer shell, so that, after the shell door has been opened, the door in the drum may be swung outwardly into the shell-door opening, and the safety mechanism forming the subject-matter of the present invention-i's designed to stop' and accurately position the drum for the opening of its door to permit of loading and unloading of the drum; One object of the present invention is to provideimpifoved-safety stop mechanism whereby a slowly rotating drum may be brought to rest and then held in its proper position with respect to the outer shell. I i i H A furth'erobject is to provide improved means actuated by a handle fronithe' front of the shell wherebya buffer and gate device is brought into coqperativeirelation"witha'member on thefrotary drum'whereby thelatter is halted and held in position. Another object isfto providejjstojpinech anism with an operating handle andjbuifer and gate mechanism whereby jth e dev'icef' is held'" in the inoperative position; and still another objet is'to provide' a slide having latch devices for] retaining" the' locking means in the" inoperative P i n?) w V.

With these and other objects ,in' view, 'my' invention consists in the'noyelfconstrujction and arrangement of parts hereinafter described, illustrated in the accompanying-drawings andparticularly pointed out in the appended claims, it being understood that various changes may be made in the construction, arrangement, and op eration without departing from the spirit of the invention or sacrificing-any oftheadyantages' thereof. A H

Inthe drawings a Fig.1 i s a 'side'viewfshown' partly in sectionof the-locking mechanism in the operative position;-

mg. 2 is a similai' viewflshowing'themechanism' in the inoperative position; i Fig-1 3 is"a"view looking" on the "inside face of part of the'locking mechanism;

Fig is an outside front-face view corresponding to Fig; 1; and

Fig. '5 "is a "detail view being at inverted plan 2 showing certain of the parts of the mechanism in two positions corresponding to Figs. 1 and 2.,

The safetystop mechanism is designed "for a'pplicatio'n to a machine of the type having fa rotary fr'neinber that must from time to time be. brought to rest and accurately positionedand,"

referring to the drawings, the mechanism is shown applied to adry-cleaning or washing machinecomprising an inner drum or container Ii] adapted to rotate about a horizontal axis within a fix'ed outer shell H having a sliding door 12 of arcuate form carried in guide groove It at the front of the shell; and the arrange ment is such that when the drum [0 hasbeen stopped and accurately positioned and when the door i2 is opened, hinged doors in such drum may swing outwardly through the door openings uncovered by 'thedoors l2, so that free accessis given to'the interior of the drum for loading and unloading.

The rotary drum! is providedsee Fig. II

with "a projecting stop pin l4 and the locking and positioning mechanism is carried by a pasingl lii secured onthe oute'r face of thestationary shell 11. When the parts are in the position shown in Fig; 1 the drum Ill is accurately posif tioned and held stationary so that the doors of the shell and of the drum ma be opened tor permit loading or unloading of the drum. Enclosed within the casing i5 is a movable plate it havin two parallel inwardly projecting flange plates I"! with a connecting web member 13 carrying" a one-way spring gate device consistingof two pivoted arms I 9 provided (see Fig. 3i)" p 'oi q ng' p wh h ay extend t ou openings 2| in the'flange'p'lates 11.; rue 191v: oted arms I 9 arenormally'pressed towards each other bysprings'npn the said pins 20 and when thest'op mechanism is in the position shown at Fig. l and the drum'is turned in a counter-clockwise direction the stop ,pin l4 forces the "arms l9. away from .eachother until the stop pin reaches .the position shown at Figs. .1 land 3. On further rotation of the drum [0 the stop-pin Mengages across bar 23 which actsas aspring bumper andarrests the motion of the drum.v The bar-23 isprovided with end pins 24 for which slots ZE in the fiange vplates I1 serve as guides. Aiseeenaeress-ber 26 is provided with similar, end. pins '27 engaging the: same slots, 25; and

pins '28 se ured to the cross bar 23 extend freely through openings in the cross bar 26 while springs ZSbar'ried on said pins 28 are in compression betw enthe said cross-bars 23,: 26, so that the' 3) spring aetion is provided to absorb the momentum of the drum III which is imparted to the cross-bar 23 by the stop pin I4, and the gate formed by the arms I9 prevents reverse movement of the pin I4 by engagement thereof with the ends of said arms.

The said late I6 has projecting outwardly therefrom a central pin 30 which extends freely through the casing I and through a slot 3| in a slide member 32 and on its outer extremity the said pin has a pivot pin 33 engaged by the forked end 34 of a hand-lever 35 having a fulcrum pin 36 which is carried by a bracket 31 secured on the casing I5 and extending through a slot 38 in the said slide member 32. The handlever 35 has a slot 39 for the passage of the fulcrum pin 36, so that counter-clockwise movement of the lever 35 about the fulcrum pin 36 moves the plate I6 with its flange plates I1 and stop-pin-engaging members from the locking position shown in Fig. 1 to the inoperative position shown at Fig. 2, where the flange plates II are shown clear of the path of the locking pin I4.

The mechanism is held in the position shown at Fig. 1 by means of springs 4|] in compression between the casing I5 and the plate I6 and extending through each spring 49 is a guide pin 4| which passes freely through a hole in the casing I5 and has one end anchored in the plate I6 while the opposite end carries a collar 42 whose underside may be engaged by the outer edges 43 on the half-collars 44 projecting outwardly from the slide member 43 which latter has its lower extremity 45 formed as a handle by means of which it may be pulled downwardly into the position shown at Fig. 2 (if it does not fall by gravity) after the hand-lever 35 has been operated to withdraw the stop mechanism from the position of Fig. l. The guide pins 4| pass through slots 46 in the slide 32 so that the latter may be raised and lowered to bring the half-collars 44 into or out of their locking position.

The slide plate 32 is also provided at the sides of the slot 3| above referred to with cheeks 41 having outer extremities 48 for cooperation with projections 49 on the sides of a boss 50 on the outer part of the said pin 30. When the mechanism is in the inoperative position shown at Fig. 2 the two projections 49 rest upon the side checks 4'! and to bring the mechanism into operation the hand-lever 35 must be turned slightly in a counter-clockwise direction to cause the projections 49. to release the extremities 48 of the cheeks 41 after which the slide member 32 is raised by means of its handle 45 from the position of Fig. 2 to the position of Fig. 1 and the hand-lever 35 is then permitted to turn in a clockwise direction under the action of the springs 40.

' Referring particularly to Figs. 4 and 5, the said boss 50 on the pin 39 carries a pair of oppositely disposed pivot-pin-receiving members 5| one or each of which may carry a pivot-pin 52 for en'- gagement with the forked end 53 of a doublearmed lever 54 having a slot 55 to receive a fulcrum pin 56 carried by a fixed bracket 51 mounted on the shell I I of the machine. The free end 58 of the lever 54 is adapted to move into or out of the path of a projection 59 formed on the arcuate door I2 of the shell I I, and the arrangement is such that when the mechanism is in the operative position shown in Fig. 1 the lever 54 is in the position shown in full lines at Fig. 5 and the door I2 is free to open, while the dotted lines show the position of the lever 54 preventing opening of the door I2 in the shell II while the mechanism is in the inoperative position of Fig. 2 and the drum I0 is free to rotate.

In the case of machines having two separate door openings in the shell for giving access to corresponding doors in the drum, the stop mechanism may be mounted on the front of the shell between such shell door openings and with reference to Figs. 4 and 5 door-locking mechanism may be provided to extend to the right as well as to the left instead of to the left only, as shown in these figures where the mechanism is adapted for use with a single shell door opening giving access to a single or double door in the drum.

Although the drawings and the above specification disclose the best mode in which I have contemplated embodying my invention, I desire to be in no way limited to the details of such disclosure, for in the further practical application of my invention many changes in form and con- E struction may be made as circumstances require or experience suggests without departing from the spirit of the invention within the scope of the appended claims.'

What I claim is:

l. Mechanism of the character described for stopping and positioning a rotary container within a fixed outer shell, comprising a one-way spring gate and a spring bumper, a projection on the container for c'o-operation with the said gate and bumper, and means for moving the gate and bumper into the path of said projection to stop and position the container by the engagement of said projection with said bumper.

2. Mechanism of the character described for stopping and positioning a rotary container within a fixed outer shell, comprising a one-way spring gate and a spring bumper, a projection on the container for co-operation with the said gate and bumper, means for moving the gate and bumper into the path of said projection to stop the container by the engagement of said projec- I tion with the bumper, and means for preventing members for engagement by said stop device. a spring bumper for arresting the movement of the.

stop device after release by said gate members, means for moving said gate members and bumper into and out of the path of the stop device, and

2 locking means for retaining the bumper and gate for loading and unloading, comprising a stop de vice on the container, pivoted gate members for engagement by the stop device, spring means resisting movement of the gate members for the passage of said stop device, spring bumper means for arresting movement of said device after pas-,-, sage through said gate, means for moving the mechanism into and out of the path of said stop device, and means for locking the shell door when the gate andbumper are out of the path of said step device.

5. In a machine having a rotary member rotating within a stationary shell, mechanism for stopping and positioning the rotary member within the shell, comprising a stop device on the rotary member, two spring-actuated pivoted gate members for engagement by said stop device, a spring bumper for arresting the movement of the stop device after release by said gate members, spring means for moving said gate members and bumper into the path of the stop device, hand-actuated means for retracting the gate members and bumper from said path, and locking means for retaining the mechanism in such retracted position.

6. In a washing or dry-cleaning machine having a rotary container for the material being cleaned or wash-ed, means for stopping and positioning the rotary container for loading and unloading, comprising a stop device on the container, a spring bumper for engaging the stop device and arresting the motion of the container, springactuated gates for preventing counter-rotation of the container after engagement by said bumper, means for retracting the bumper and gates from position for engagement by the stop device, and a gravity-actuated slide-member for holding the mechanism in the retracted position.

7. In a washing or dry-cleaning machine having a rotary cylindrical container enclosed within a stationary shell with doors in the shell and in the container adapted to register with each other for loadin and unloading the container, mechanism for stopping and positioning the container for loading and unloading, comprising a stop device on the container, pivoted gates for engagement by the stop device, springs for resisting movement of the gates for the passage of said stop device, a spring bumper for arresting move ment of said device after passage through said gates, spring means for moving the gates and bumper into the path of said stop device, a hand lever on the shell for retracting the gates and bumper from said path against the action of said spring means, and means whereby the shell door is prevented from opening when the stop mechanism is in the retracted position.

8. Means for stopping and positioning the rotary container of a dry-cleaning or washing machine to cause the container doors to register with the doors of the outer shell, comprising a stop pin on the container, retractable gates and a bumper for engaging said stop pin, guides mounted on the shell for carryin the gates and bumper, spring means normally pressing said gates and bumper into the path of said stop pin, lever means for moving the gates and bumper into retracted position against the action of said spring means, and an independently actuated locking device for holding the gates and bumper in the retracted position.

9. Means for stopping and positioning the rotary container of a dry-cleaning or washing machine to cause the container doors to register with the doors of the outer shell, comprising a stop pin on the container, retractable pivoted gates and a spring bumper for engaging said stop pin, guides mounted on the shell for carrying said gates and bumper, spring means normally holding the gates and bumper in the path of said stop pin, means for retracting the gates and bumper against the action of said spring means, and locking means actuated by said retracting means for preventing opening of the door of the outer shell while the gates and bumper are in the retracted position.

10. Means for stopping and positioning the rotary container of a dry-cleaning or washing machine to cause the container doors to register with the doors of the outer shell, comprising a stop pin on the container, retractable spring members for engaging said stop pin, guides mounted on the shell for carrying said spring members, spring means normally holding said spring members in the path of the stop pin, lever means for retracting the spring members against the action of the said sprin means, a slide device for locking the said spring members in the retracted position, and a locking device actuated by said lever means for preventing opening of the door of the outer shell while the spring members are in their retracted position.

ABRAHAM TRAUBE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 192,027 Sternberger June 12, 1877 471,495 Sinning Mar. 22, 1892 730,170 Smith June 2, 1903 1,718,191 Couch June 18, 1929 1,840,209 Perry Jan. 5, 1932 1,875,096 Miller Aug. 30, 1932 2,343,742 Breckenridge Mar. 7, 1944 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 5,760 Great Britain of 1900 

